


pop psychology

by ghostvinyls (jebbyfish)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/M, Meet-Ugly, ive been wanting to write this fic for a thousand years and now i CAN
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2019-01-17
Packaged: 2019-05-23 06:44:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14929206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jebbyfish/pseuds/ghostvinyls
Summary: Katie had a lot of bad luck, which included being a magnet for bad decisions, deviancy, and terrible company.Lance had a lot of vices, which included being a cause of stress for his roommate and friends when his smooth thinking gets him in hot water.He could've dialed the right number. She could've hung up the phone.Unfortunately for both of them, it doesn't seem like things are gonna go the way it could've.





	1. foolish behavior

**Author's Note:**

> [song link!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbQF9O27O0w)

_"Well, you started out a stranger. Foolish behavior brought us together tonight."_

* * *

 

“Hunk, dude.”

The voice was, honestly, pretty pathetic sounding. That was Katie’s first thought. Second thought: she was not this Hunk person. In fact, she had no idea who this Hunk person _was_. Also in fact, she should apologize to the person on the other end, and hang up, and move on with her night.

But god, sometimes it was just too tempting to mess with a stranger. Especially now, half past midnight, when her retinas were burning from staring at her computer too long and the energy drink just wasn’t quite cutting it.

She cleared her throat, made a low “hmm?” sound, hoping it was convincing enough. It was late, so maybe she could get around pretending to be this Hunk waking up from sleep.

“I fucked up. So hard. _Please_ pick me up.”

“Oh?”

“I- _fuck_ -okay. To make a long story short, I went to the club, met a girl, you get the picture. Drove her back to her place, _definitely_ did it but I’ll spare you the details, and I was gonna sleepover but, get this, _they towed my fucking car.”_

“Oh.”

That was not good.

“Yeah, and I ran downstairs to yell at the dudes towing my shit! But I got there too late, and tried to get back into the apartment building, but the door was fucking locked, and now I’m outside, and I want you to guess how much clothes I’m wearing. Take a wild guess.”

Oh _no._

“Please say underwear.”

“Ten points to Hufflepuff.”

Oh god, she should have hung up.

The person on the other end let out a frustrated groan.

“I just-- Christ, this is so predictable, right? Perfect Sunday night for your man, Lance. You wanna take bets that it can get worse?”

That was her cue. Her one ticket out.

“Actually, uh, yeah.”

A pause.

“Screw you, dude.”

“No--uhm, don’t take this out on Hunk, or whoever,” her voice dropped, and Katie was praying that maybe this Lance person had… some sense of humor. “Uh, I’m not Hunk.”

Another long, drawn out pause.

“What?”

“Y-you got the wrong number.”

A string of angry expletives followed.

_“Who is this?”_

“My name’s, uh,” _Definitely_ not Katie. “--Pidge, and I am so, so sorry for your entire night.”

“Oh my god. _You made it worse._ I didn’t think it’d get worse, but now a complete stranger has very personal bullshit on me. Oh my god.”

“I-I can still help! You need a ride, right? I can totally pick you up!”

Now why the hell did she just sacrifice herself to do that?

Katie pinched the bridge of her nose, opening her mouth in a silent scream. She had an exam in the morning. She didn’t have time, at this hour, to drive to some nondescript location and pick this guy up and take him back to wherever he lived. Besides, what if he didn't live in town? What if the area code just didn’t add up?

There was hesitation on the other end of the line, and Katie held her breath. Best case scenario, he’ll hang up and actually call his friend Hunk, and she’d never have to deal with this poor, sad sack ever again.

“You know what, Pidge? That might just make up for totally embarrassing myself just now. Sure. Want to write down the address?”

Oh, _fuck_ this guy.

“Yes. Certainly,” she smiled through the pain, picking up her pen and notebook, ready to go. “Blast off, dude.”

He gave the address, and Katie grew more anxious by the second. One, his one night stand lived in the city, so at least that meant the poor guy was in range. That was the good part. Two, she must be out of her mind. That was it. That’s why she was doing this, agreeing to pick up a complete stranger at this hour and help him out because she was going a bit batty from staring at equations for the last three hours, and hell, maybe it’ll grant her good karma once she finally keeled over from studying.

“I’ll leave now,” Katie said, wiggling her way out of bed, grateful for a real break. She didn’t have the energy to change into something presentable; baggy plaid pajama pants and ratty thermal sweater with obvious pomegranate juice stains over her boob would just have to do for now. Besides, this Lance guy wouldn’t give a shit. He was stranded outside in only his underwear.

A pang of guilt went through her, and she hurried to her dresser, pulling out a pair of track pants with an elastic waist and the biggest t-shirt she could find. She almost forgot that her phone was pressed to her ear, and she could hear the late sounds of streetlife coming from the other end of the line.

Some Sunday night indeed.

Pidge made her way quietly through the apartment she shared with her roommate Allura, careful not to wake the girl as she gathered her keys and slipped into sneakers. She waited until she was out in the hall before talking again.

“Is there a reason you haven’t hung up?”

A cough. Almost sheepish.

“I don’t really want to be alone right now. Fuck. _Fuck,_ this sucks.”

The frustration in his tone made her wince. She could sympathize, at least.

“I’m sorry, Lance. Really.”

“Thanks. Can you hurry up though? I might die out here.”

“Right, right,” Katie let out a hard sigh, adjusting the pile of things in her other arm, wandering down the hall quickly and into the parking garage, making quick time to get inside her car and start up the engine.

“Hey, I hate to do this to you, but I need both hands to drive. And navigate.”

A sigh. “Okay, yeah. Just get here fast, alright dude?”

“Sure. Keep warm in the meantime. Uh,” she racked her brain, trying to remember anything from any biology class she’s ever taken. “Maybe do exercises or something?”

That made him laugh. “Right, I’ll just drop and do fifty push ups right now.”

“Yeah.” She had no idea how to retaliate. Her brain was fried, and this wasn’t how she expected her evening to go, at all. Katie rolled her eyes. “Bye.”

And she drove off into the night, following the navigator on her phone. The building he was stranded out of wasn’t that far away from where she lived; downtown, in a younger part of town, near the university. At least she could peg Lance as close to her age. That part was almost relieving.

She pulled up close to the building, and that was when she saw him.

To be fair, it was pretty hard to miss a guy stripped to his underwear doing jumping jacks in front of the building. She slowed to a stop, rolling down the window, yelling across the street.

“Hey, butt-naked dude!”

Lance stopped, a look of terror crossing his face. And despite herself, Katie beamed, jutting a thumb towards herself.

“Pidge.”

He took a quick glance down both sides of the street before running across the asphalt, and _very_ much despite herself, she gave him a quick inspection.

Broad shoulders. Not bulked up, but lean and muscular, built like he was on a sports team. A sharp jaw, long legs, her gaze skipped over his pelvic area, and…

“You liar.”

Lance slowed to a stop. The terror in his eyes was still there, but she watched his expression change on his way towards her from fear, to relief, to now, confusion. He had a handsome face, she noted. Then removed the note from her memory.

“What?”

“You’re wearing socks too.”

He sputtered, planting his hands on either side of her window, leaning down to meet her, his whispers harsh. “That’s not what fucking matters right now. Open the door.”

“Magic word?”

_“Please.”_

Smug, Pidge unlocked the door, and she’s never seen a guy climb so quickly into her car, before, ever. Not even when Matt was late for his seminar on quantum mechanics. Next to her, Lance let out a frustrated groan, head falling back into the headrest.

“Can you please turn on the heat?”

She obliged. He shuddered, arms wrapping tight around himself, and Katie remembered, suddenly, her guilt. Quickly, she reached into the backseat for the spare clothes, dumping them unceremoniously into Lance’s lap.

“Here you go, stranger.”

Lance blinked, looking first at the clothes, then at her, the clothes, then back again. His head tilted. “What?”

“I wasn’t sure of your size, but I felt bad you were standing with your ass out, and brought some spares.”

He inspected the clothes as if she had laced them with hemlock, and Katie couldn’t help but roll her eyes. “They’re clothes, dude.”

He turned to her, a brow raised. “You go to VU? _Science department?”_

She felt the blush creep up her neck, and Katie let out a hard cough. She almost forgot the shirt was a freebie from some event at school. “You could just say thank you.”

He did, mumbling the words, and with no questions left to ask, he slipped into the shirt and the track pants followed. They were a few inches short on him, but she was grateful they fit him at all, and it was clear Lance was grateful to be somewhat dressed. He finally let out a sigh.

“I live at Blue Hall. You can just drop me off outside.”

Oh. He went to VU, too. At least that made this somewhat easier. She cleared her throat, uncomfortable as a thought occurred to her. Lance frowned, brows furrowing.

“What?”

“Sorry, but if you live in the dorms, don’t you, you know, need a key card to get in?”

An angry groan. “Yeah, I know! I _have_ my fucking key card, you--”

A sputtering stop. She waited patiently.

“Oh god. It’s in my wallet. I left it in her apartment.”

Another, angrier groan, Lance banging his fists on his thighs. “As if this night couldn’t get any worse, it does. Hunk’s probably way asleep right now.”

“Ah, he’s your roommate?”

“Yeah. Christ…” Lance trailed off, lost in thought. “Fuck, and Keith said he’d be out of town until Tuesday…”

Another friend, Katie deduced.

Then Lance turned to her, desperation in those deep, dark blue eyes. She knew the question before he could ask.

“Absolutely not.”

“One night. I’ll pay you. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“I have a roommate.”

“I’ll pay both of you.”

“Do you just not have other friends? Another one night stand you can beg to let you in for the night?”

He turned red, eyes flitting away. “They’re called one night stands for a reason.”

“I’m not letting a stranger stay in my apartment.”

Lance let out a whine, and for all intents and purposes, it irritated her. She folded her arms over her chest, the car idling, waiting for his next bribery.

It was one thing already to impulsively answer a stranger’s phone call, take pity on him, bring him spare clothes and offer him a ride home.

It was another to invite him into her house.

“Fine. Alright.”

She perked up, turning her head to face him. Lance had leaned back, stretching his arms behind his head, a pout on his lips.

“Alright?”

“I can sleep in the library. I’ve done it before.”

Her chest constricted, and Katie conceded, starting up the car and driving in the direction of VU. She’s also, admittedly, spent the night in the library before. But not willingly, no. She didn’t know anyone who slept in the library willingly.

Her grip tightened on the steering wheel, and she snuck a glance over at the man. He wasn’t looking at her, but out the window, tucking himself as far away as possible from her, hands wound tight together in a vice grip.

Damn him, really. If he didn’t look like such a kicked puppy, she probably would’ve driven the car to VU’s library and let him out without a second glance.

But when the turn came up, she went left, away from VU. Back to her apartment.

And Lance noticed. He glanced at her, over his shoulder, brows rising in questioning. She let out a sigh.

“If Allura says anything, you’re in my physics class and I invited you over to study for our exam in the morning.”

“You have an exam in the morning?” There was guilt in the question. Her brows furrowed.

“Not the important part. Just… when I go to class, leave with me, and I can drop you off at Blue Hall. It’s on my way to my building, I think.”

Lance let out a sigh of relief, and if she wasn’t focused on making sure she wouldn’t crash her car by accident from the stress, she might have seen the beads of tears forming at the corners of his eyes. He wiped them away, quick.

“You’re like a little guardian angel, Pidge.”

His tone was sincere. For a second, she faltered, then remembered herself.

“You just owe me like, a bajillion favors.”

“Sure thing. Just ring me up if you ever also get locked out of a hot date’s apartment butt naked on a weekend. I’ll be there.”

She laughed, a loud, surprising sound that shook her right out of her stupor, the reality of the situation sinking in. This couldn’t be happening, could it? She pulled up into the parking garage, fatigue hitting like a freight train even before the car was parked. Katie ran a hand through her hair, throwing Lance a quick look.

“One more thing.”

“Anything.”

“We never, ever speak of this again. Deal?”

Lance didn’t even ponder it. He shot her a grin, a thousand watts and almost too charming.

“Deal.”


	2. love in the 21st century

_"I don't believe in a life without consequences, do_ _you believe when I say that I'm not impressed?"_

* * *

 

Lance woke up to the sound of a blender pulsing.

He blinked, slow, a headache thrumming to the beat of his own heart, the pain from sleeping on a couch hitting him like a train. There were pins and needles behind his eyelids. The blender certainly wasn’t helping his situation.

“Hunk, turn that fucking thing  _ off,” _ Lance groaned, loudly. The blender clicked quiet.

It took him maybe ten seconds after the fact to remember his roommate didn’t keep a blender in the dorm room.

He sat up quick, far too quick, because one hand missed the edge of the couch and he slipped halfway off with a loud curse. There was a snort from the general direction of the blender. His memory was fuzzy around the edges.

He got laid. (Booyah.)

His car got towed. (Not so booyah.)

He called Hunk. Or he thought he called Hunk. But it was some girl named Widge or Fidge or whatever. And that girl gave him spare clothes and a place to sleep without asking for anything in return except sworn secrecy to the evening’s events.

“Are you alright?”

Blender was speaking. Not blender. British?

He opened his eyes, blinking the sleep out, staring up into the face of… not Smidge.

He’d remember if Ridge’s hair was the color of starlight.

(Christ, why can’t he remember her name?)

Oh, right. The new girl. The very, very pretty new girl.

“Buh.”

She cocked her head, an amused smile on her face, eyes twinkling. God, this was more embarrassing than the time he tried to do a keg stand in the back of a moving pickup truck.

(Long story.)

“Oh, he woke up?”

_ That  _ one was.. Kidge?

The other girl took a step back with a laugh. “Yeah. He seems rather exhausted...”

“Physics does that,” the familiar girl stood over him next, outstretching a hand and gesturing towards it. “Come on, Lance. Think you’re good for the exam?”

He didn’t remember telling Hidge his name, but alright.

He also certainly didn’t remember having an exam today, but Lance wasn’t having that great of a week to start.

He grasped her hand, which despite the small size had quite a strong grip, and she pulled him up into a sitting position. She cleaned up nice, Lance noted. Plain, but better than looking exhausted and exasperated. He turned away from her, looking back at her assumed roommate, who was busying herself back at the blender and pouring three glasses of smoothies before coming back their way.

“Here you are,” said the stranger, placing the glass in his hands. “It’ll restore your electrolytes.”

She said it with a wide grin, and Lance returned it with a sheepish one. Lidge let out a cough.

“Right. Lance, this is my roommate Allura. Allura, this is Lance, one of my classmates.”

Allura gave him a wave. “It’s nice to meet you. Katie doesn’t bring classmates over with her that often, so it’s nice to see--”

_ “Katie?”  _ Lance blurted, interrupted, surprising them both when his head whipped to stare at the girl, who was now looking less-than-pleased. “Wh-- _ Pidge! _ That’s it! That’s what you told me your name was! Not Katie!”

Pidge--Katie blinked, undisturbed. “Yeah. Pidge is fine, too.”

He sputtered, almost dropping his smoothie in distress before remembering that this wasn’t his carpet and Katie looked like she was ready to throw him out. It probably was crossing her mind. He wasn’t entirely sure what Katie was thinking, really, and he figured he might never.

And then she lifted her bookbag, adjusting the straps on her shoulder. “Anyway. Lance and I have to get going, Allura. I’ll see you after your meeting?”

Allura blinked, as if she was still processing the conversation. But instead of asking more questions she just smiled, walking backwards to her room as she did. “Of course! Good luck with the test, you guys! I’m your biggest fan.”

And she excused herself, leaving Lance alone with not-Pidge-but-Katie, who let out a scoff as her door clicked shut.

“You have a loud mouth,” Katie observed. Lance let out a low groan.

“This is probably the worst day of my life.”

“Huh. I was going to say yesterday must’ve been, but you were naked on the streets past midnight, so yeah. Worst day, indeed.”

He rubbed an eye with the heel of one hand, groaning hard. “I just--I can’t believe this is how my day’s going. Holy fuck. I have to get my car back, and like, my wallet and keys from that girl, and I can barely remember her name, too…”

“Oof.”

“Don’t you ‘oof,’ me!” He pointed an accusing finger. “What the fuck’s a Pidge?!”

“I told you. A nickname. And that’s really not the important thing. You gotta go.”

“I _ \--I  _ have to go?!”

“Well, this is my apartment.”

It wasn’t like he could argue with that.

“Come on, I’ll walk you back,” said Katie, already halfway out the door. Lance sputtered, chugging as much of the smoothie as he could stomach without a brain freeze, then stumbling off after her. She walked brisk, as if she couldn’t wait to be away from her hot roommate Allura, or maybe even him.

“Walk faster, I don’t want to be late for my exam.”

Or that.

He followed quickly, almost forgetting he wasn’t wearing shoes (another casualty in last night’s Incident, with a capital I) and he was going to have to walk across campus following this girl until he could get someone to key him into his building. Katie didn’t speak to him until they reached the elevator to the parking garage.

“So, do you want to get your stuff back from your date?” She pushed the button for the third floor. Lance gave her a bewildered look.

“Obviously.”

“Alright. Want me to drop you off there instead?”

His head was still pounding.

“To be honest, I just want to sleep off the rest of this hangover.”

She grinned. “No classes?”

“I can miss a day.”

She shrugged, folding her hands neatly over her chest. “Fair enough.”

Lance narrowed his eyes at her. “Wait, why’d you suggest that?”

Katie grinned. “Well, if I spent the night with a six foot tall string bean and he bounced in the middle of the night leaving all of his personal effects without a signal, I’d want to give his stuff back.”

Lance decided he respected Katie.

“Or trash them, I guess,” she added as an afterthought.

He didn’t like her, but he respected her.

Lance followed her once they reached the floor she parked on, talking after her. “Okay, so I should get back there before she trashes my stuff is what you’re saying, right?”

“It’s what _ you’re _ saying.”

“Can you…” he hesitated. “Come with?”

She paused, key hovering over her car door. She turned slow, gesturing at him with her car key, one brow quirked up.

“You already owe me a thousand favors and you want to add another one?”

“Well, I can’t exactly explain this to my roommate or my other friends--”

“Yes, you can. And you will. We-- _ we’re _ not friends, dude.”

He deflated, shoulders drooping as he stared down at her. “Unbelievable. You think you know a girl after spending a night on her couch in her clothes…”

“I shouldn’t have even answered the phone.”

That stung a little. But Lance could work with that. He cleared his throat as she turned away, back to her car.

“But you did. You  _ did  _ answer the phone. And you could’ve  _ also  _ hung up, but you didn’t.”

She slumped back in her seat, one foot still out, glancing at him incredulously.

“Where are you going with that?”

“I mean to say, you’re a  _ carer,  _ Pidge.”

“A carer, huh?”

“If you didn’t care, would you be here? Would  _ I  _ be here?”

She rolled her eyes. “If I didn’t care, you know where I’d be, Lance?”

“Where’s that?”

“At my exam. Get in the car, could you?”

He conceded, strapping back into the familiar passenger side, leaning back into his seat as Katie took up driving them out of the parking garage and towards campus. He let out a whistle, looking back down at the shirt she loaned to him.

“So, since you care so much--”

“You’re really pushing it.”

He raised a hand in defense. “Let me finish. Come on, don’t you want to at least help me go back to that girl’s apartment? Reclaim my shoes?”

She glanced quickly towards his feet, then back up at the road. “You’re not doing a great job of convincing me to help you, you know.”

“Well then, convince me why you won’t.”

“Because, Lance,” she swung hard into a parking spot, forcing Lance to clutch onto the edge of his seat. Katie threw the car into park, then jutted a finger into his face. “I don’t know you. I don’t  _ care  _ to know you. I did my good deed, and frankly, I have bigger fish to fry than deal with some poor girl who woke up this morning wondering  _ why the hell you fled in the middle of the goddamn night.  _ Putting it into perspective, I am the last person who should’ve given a shit.”

He shrank back, eyes widening in surprise. And just as quickly as Katie snapped, she drew back, the scrunched up features of her face relaxing into something quite like guilt. Angrily, she let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of her nose beneath her glasses.

“Sorry. I… Sorry. I’m just…”

“Anxious about your exam?” Lance guessed. She gave a quiet nod.

“Yeah. That. Screw it. Okay. Can you at least let your roommate know you’re okay?”

Lance gave a slow nod. Pidge sighed.

“You can hang out here in my car if you’re too embarrassed. I’ll leave the keys, and I should be done in an hour.”

“Then?” There was hope in his tone, and Katie leveled her gaze.

“... Then we go and get your stuff.”

He fistpumped the air, grin wide, and before she could react, Lance threw his arms around her in a lung-crushing hug.

“You’re the  _ best.” _

“I know. Now please let go so I can get to class.”

 

\--

 

Katie decided Lance was kind of infuriating.

She focused her attention back on her exam. Ten more questions, and she’d be out of here. Ten more, and Lance was still involved in her life and she was still just as involved in his.

_ Infuriating. _

She rubbed at her eye, wishing her fatigue headache would disappear already. At least her all nighter paid off, study-wise. She wasn’t sure Lance remembered the night entirely, from the second she lead him upstairs to her apartment and making him a makeshift bed on the couch. He crashed, almost instantaneously, but not before doing something she figured was uncharacteristic and only possible in the heat of the moment.

_ He grabbed her wrist, watery eyes looking up at her in the darkness of her apartment. It wasn’t a tight grip, but a loose, warm one, one she could’ve easily slipped out of if she had wanted to. _

_ “You need something else?” Katie had asked, and he looked away. _

_ “Just... Thanks. Really. I don’t know what’d I’d be doing right now if…” He trailed off, hand dropping away, leaving heated tingles behind. Katie had sighed, looking between her room and him. _

_ “You’re welcome. See you later.” _

_ “Yeah. See you.” _

Katie let out a sigh, glancing down at her wrist. It wasn’t important. He was just thanking her. And she had eight more questions, eight questions she should answer before she just passed out right here from exhaustion.

The time ticked slowly, but by question 95, she gave up and threw the last five answers to the wolves. She could spare five. She was confident she could spare five. And she filtered out of the classroom, giving her professor a tired smile and a farewell before trotting down the steps, a yawn escaping her, one that conveyed both her exhaustion and relief.

At least the exam was over with.

Lance, however, was an entirely different problem she couldn’t study for.

And it was a problem, when she came back to her car and found him in the driver’s side. Annoyance clawed at the back of her mind, and she popped open the door, forcing Lance to look at her. He beamed.

“How was the test?”

“Why are you sitting behind the wheel?”

“Because you look tired.”

She sputtered, hand tightening around the door frame. “O-of course I’m tired. That doesn’t explain anything.”

“Explanation? Okay, you’re definitely going to crash this car if you drive. So I’ll drive.”

“You don’t even have your license on you.”

“What? It’s not like I can’t drive--”

“You parked in a  _ tow zone.” _

Lance faltered, his expression sobering. For a moment, it seemed like she won, that he’d return to the passenger side, and she felt the pride rising in her chest--

“That was  _ one time.” _

A harrowed sigh escaped her.

“Please, for the love of god, Lance, I can drive.”

“And I’m saying you can’t. It’s my word against yours.”

“I’m sorry, who’s the person with the car here?”

He blinked, unfazed, leaning back in the seat, a grin forming on his lips.

“Well, from the looks of it, I’m the one with the car.”

And without a second thought, Katie switched to her completely foolproof plan B, one that has worked in countless battles against Matt.

She shrugged, climbed into the seat, Lance’s surprised yelp music to her ears as she planted herself on top of him.

“You’re-- are you serious?!”

“You wouldn’t get up.” She leaned back into him, placing her hands on the wheel. Any minute now. Any minute now, and Katie would regain control of the situation.

“Actually,” Oh no. “I wanna see if we can drive like this without getting caught.”

She wanted to scream, actually. Was she intrigued? Absolutely. Was she going to let him know she was quite interested in finding out how far they could take her car before someone noticed and pulled them over?

Absolutely not. Because then Lance would  _ win. _

“We’re not doing that.”

“Then get off my lap.” He gave her a weak shove, and paused as he did, like he couldn’t resist a good joke. “Weird, never thought I’d ever say that line.”

She steeled herself. Katie was a lot of things, but she wasn’t a quitter after a bad joke.

“Unless you let me drive my car, Lance, we’re not going anywhere near that girl’s apartment and you’re going to have to live without your shoes for the rest of your life.”

“You know what? I think I can buy new shoes.”

She elbowed him. He had the audacity to laugh.

“Okay! Okay, I’ll surrender.”

“Thank you.”

“But if we die, don’t make me say ‘I told you so.’”

“We’re not gonna die,” she said, shifting as Lance squeezed out from under her and leapt across the hood of her car (to her annoyance) and back into the passenger seat. He shrugged.

“Famous last words.”

 

\--

 

Katie rang the doorbell a third time.

Silence.

She looked aimlessly to where Lance was sitting in the car, leaning out the window, staring right at her with an anxious expression.

“I don’t think she’s home.” Katie said, shrugging at him. Lance groaned.

“Great. As if my day couldn’t have gotten worse.”

“Hey, chin up! At least you still have…”

She paused. 

Well, he didn’t have much of anything right now.

“Your hands?”

Lance groaned, a hand running down the side of his face, deflating in defeat as Katie took the apartment steps two at a time to meet him at his rolled down window.

“I can’t believe she’s not here.”

“Weirdly enough, Lance, people don’t revolve their entire existences around you,” Katie said, leaning against the side of her car. “She’s probably got more important things to do than hope against all hope her dreamboat of a date would come back into her life.”

His head popped back up.

“You think I’m a dreamboat?”

“The bigger picture, Lance.”

He deflated again, letting out a hard sigh, eyes flicking down to stare at his hands.

“Sorry. I just… Christ. I’m an idiot. She probably feels terrible, and thinks I’m an asshole, and I wasn’t even trying to be an asshole, and to top it off,” he waved a weak hand at Katie, frowning. “I got you, a total stranger, involved. And fuck, I won’t blame her if she doesn’t ever want to see me again, and I know you  _ definitely  _ don’t want to see me again...”

Katie was already feeling a little more than sorry for the guy. And even worse that she wasn’t entirely sure how to reassure him. She wasn’t a people person, that much was clear. Her goal at university was to pass her classes and get through the years and graduate with honors. Her goal wasn’t to make a bunch of friends or party or do anything that wasn’t studying because Katie had a degree to get and science to discover. She wasn’t entirely sure how to deal with someone like Lance in the first place, anyway. Especially when he was right about that last part. The girl in the apartment probably hated his guts for all the right reasons. And she definitely wasn’t interested in continuing her relationship, or whatever this was, with Lance.

Yet, here she was.

She leaned back against her car, facing away from him, back up towards the building, remembering how just last night Lance was doing jumping jacks out here.

“Look,” Katie began. “Sometimes, life throws you curveballs for a reason. And sure, this is probably the worst day of your life, Lance, but you can mope all you want, or like…”

She thought about her friend, Shiro. What he would probably say.

“... Learn to be a better version of you that last night’s Lance would be proud of.”

She stopped, glancing him from the side, surprised to find deep blue eyes staring at her intensely, expression unreadable. Katie gulped under the scrutiny, unsure if he was going to call her out, or what.

“Besides,” she blurted quickly, feeling the heat rising on her face, forcing a brilliant smile at him. “I’ve seen you in your underwear. I think we’re a little past strangers at this point.”

That made him smile.

“Thanks, Pidge,” he said it softly, gratitude laced into every word.

“Don’t mention it.” She patted the passenger door, taking a step back, putting distance between herself and him. “I’m going to try the door again.”

“Hey, if it doesn’t work, we can always break in!” He beamed, giving her a thumbs up. Katie rolled her eyes.

“That’s a terrible suggestion. I’ll remember it, but I’ll also remember it’s terrible.”

She tried again, ringing the doorbell despite the futility of the situation. The girl clearly wasn’t home--

“Good god, what do you want?!”

Or she was, and was just blatantly ignoring the frantic button pushing. Pidge winced at the static that came with the voice.

“Uh. Hi. My friend left his stuff here last night--”

“I’m stopping you there. First, his stuff’s in the dumpster in the alley. Second, you can tell him to get screwed.”

She refrained from pointing out the obvious fact that Lance did get screwed.

But at least she knew where his stuff was.

“Uh, he says he’s sorry and feels like an asshole. His car got towed.”

“Good.”

“I should repeat the part where he’s super sorry?”

A crackle from the other side.

“I said, tell him to get screwed.”

Katie frowned, a sinking feeling in her chest. Of course, she didn’t expect this to end well for him or the mystery girl.

But she still kind of hoped it would.

“Last thing,” Katie said. “I… I hope you meet someone who treats you how you deserve. Sorry about my friend. He’s an idiot. But… he’s trying.”

A pause. She wondered if the girl walked away.

Another crackle.

“We’re all trying. Goodbye.”

Katie stepped back, shoulders drooping. 

_ We’re all trying, huh. _

Slow, she took the steps one at a time, this time, until she was back at Lance, who perked up as she got closer.

“You were talking to her?”

“Yeah. She hates you.”

Lance nodded. “I… yeah, I think I figured as much.”

A beat passed in silence, as Katie walked around to the driver’s side, glad to sit down inside her car. Lance coughed.

“She didn’t say anything mean to you?”

Katie shook her head. “Not particularly.”

“Okay. I’m glad she didn’t take it out on you.”

Right. Katie sat up, hands on the wheel. “She definitely took it out on you, though.”

“How so?”

“How do you feel about dumpster diving?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.  
> SEASON 7???  
> no spoilers or anything but oof... oof!
> 
> anyways!!!!!!! i've been wanting to keep updating this fic!!!!! i got super writers-blocked there because i had no idea what i was doing, like, driving without complete control over the steering wheel, but hey!! that just means a long chapter for ny'all HAHA
> 
> thank you guys for reading!!! i hope you enjoyed!!!  
> i changed my url so if you wanna shout at me i'm now [@nadiarizavi](http://nadiarizavi.tumblr.com) on tumblr! or always on spacetravels huhu


	3. first things first

_ "They’ve been telling me to come of age, I’ve been going through an awkward phase." _

* * *

 

“I found your wallet!”

Katie held up the leather tri-fold, waving it around like it was a well worn medal. Lance let out a sigh of relief, leaning against the other side of the dumpster, a smile flashing on his face despite how absolutely maddeningly tired he was.

“Oh, thank god. I can’t take any more of this.”

“Take any more of what?”

Lance frowned, gesturing to the squelching sound coming from the bursting trash bags beneath the soles of his shoes (which they were lucky enough to find first). “Literally what we’re standing in.”

“What, can’t handle a bit of dumpster diving, Lance?”

“I think I’m sweating three-week-old burger grease.”

Katie snorted, carefully walking amidst the piles of trash, ignoring the pungent scent that filled her nose, carefully avoiding the unidentified slime oozing from an indescripent paper bag. Her nose scrunched up as she reached him, holding out his wallet between two fingers.

“Is this the last of your stuff?”

“Yeah--oh my  _ god,  _ you smell awful.”

“We smell exactly the same.”

“That’s a lie.  _ Total  _ slander. I never smell like anything that isn’t coconut.”

Katie frowned, and she leaned closer, taking a whiff.

Garbage.

“Smells like you’ve been dumpster diving. Three-week-old burger grease.”

Lance rolled his eyes. “You’re not close enough.”

“Fine, I’ll-- _ woah!” _

Her footing slipped unceremoniously, balance lost on the pile of garbage she was standing on, and for a brief zero-point-five seconds, Katie thought she’d die by trash burial.

But then Lance grabbed her by the arm and pulled her his way, and she fell, not into the garbage by all of god’s graces, but right into him. He had a strong grip, Katie noted, as he helped her regain her balance over the pile, shuffling so they’d both be standing upright in the corner of the dumpster. Katie let out a breath, distressed.

He  _ did  _ smell like coconut.

Damn.

“You good?” Lance finally asked, and she was more acutely aware of his hands around her arms, holding her steady. Katie’s face scrunched up, wiggling her shoulders, signalling for Lance to release his grip on her.

“As good as I can be. We should get out of here.”

“Oh, for sure. I can boost you over.”

“What about you?”

Lance looked around the dumpster, the gears in his head turning. “I can pile up trash bags and use that to pull myself out.”

“Suit yourself. I was gonna call Allura to help.”

Lance grinned. “Your cute roommate?”

She felt her ears turn hot. “My… she’s not gonna wanna make out with you if she’s helping you out of a dumpster, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Lance shrugged. “Hey, you never know. Sometimes a girl digs a dude who manages to make trash look fash’.”

“Never say that again,” Katie said, already pounding in Allura’s number. It was two rings before the girl answered, the sounds of clinking glasses and giggles going on in the background.

“Katie? Are you locked out of the apartment again?”

She frowned, pressing her phone closer to her ear, hoping Lance couldn’t hear her.

“No, nothing like that. Listen, uh, long story…”

“Long--? Hang on a minute. Hang on!”

There was a brief spout of chatter and laughter, and Katie found herself frowning harder, trying to distract herself from the loud sounds of a party in her ear and, simultaneously, the smell of the garbage she was standing in.

“Sorry, Katie, you called me. What’s up?”

“Where… where the heck are you right now?”

She didn’t remember Allura saying she had plans after her advising meeting. And she would know; Allura told her practically everything.

“Late lunch with a few of my sisters--Romelle, oh my  _ god, _ stop, I’m on the phone!”

“Oh, uh,” she chewed on her lip, her frown deepening. “It’s cool, nothing… you’re busy. So, it’s fine.”

“What? No. No, no, no! Wait a second.”

Katie waited, listening as the sounds retreated, looking back at Lance, who was giving her an incredulous look, a brow raised. She shrugged back at him.

“Can she come or not?” Lance hissed.

“I’m getting to that,” Katie hissed back.

“Okay! I got away from them. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s  _ wrong,” _ Katie began.

“Katie, something’s definitely wrong. You’re doing your lying voice.”

“I-I do  _ not  _ have a lying voice.”

“You do, and you’re using it. Fess up.”

She sighed, rolling her eyes, turning to face Lance. “Lance and I are currently standing in about three feet of garbage and need some extra muscle to get back out of here.”

Met with silence.

“Allura? Hello?”

“Sorry, uh… what? Lance, like, your classmate--”

“Yeah, he’s not my classmate, and this is already a long enough story to explain without going into that whole thing.” She grimaced into the receiver, shooting Lance a look, who rolled his eyes at her.

She was met with a long, agonizing pause. Finally, Allura’s voice chirped over the receiver.

“Sorry, Kate, I can’t right now. But you have to fill me in tonight, alright?”

An odd sensation came over Katie Holt. On one hand, she was distressed that Allura couldn’t help them out. On the other, she was feeling rather smug.

“Alright. Tell Romelle I said hi.”

“I will! Love you!”

And with a click, Allura was gone.

Katie stuffed her phone back into her pocket, looking at Lance with a frown. “You got any friends that aren’t busy right now?”

“She can’t come?” Lance asked, a slight whine in his tone.

“Nope. So, any friends?”

Lance thought about it for a long hard moment. He could call Hunk, because Hunk was a ray of sunshine and he’d definitely come help them out. But he’s been ignoring Hunk’s calls and texts all morning out of sheer embarrassment, so that was out. He could call Keith, but somehow that idea was even worse, because Keith wasn’t his friend, really, just a guy he happened to hang out with and call in the middle of the night when he was drunk and lonely and needed to makeout with. In a platonic, rage-filled, drunk-induced way.

He wondered who Katie would hate less.

Then decided it wasn’t worth the trouble to find out.

“Nope,” Lance said, decisively. “They’re pretty busy people.”

“Unlike you,” Katie observed with tense sobriety.

“I’m a perfectly busy person.”

“Mhmmm. Totally. That explains why we’re in this mess.”

“We’re not in a mess, Pidge. We’re in  _ trash.” _

She rolled her eyes, then gestured to the lip of the dumpster. “I’ll give you a boost out, and then you pull me out, okay?”

“Sounds easy enough. You think you can really give me a boost?”

“I’m short, Lance, not wimpy. Come here.”

She bent her knees, placing her open palms over them, frowning at Lance as she tried to keep her balance on the trash bags she was standing on. Lance rolled his eyes, grabbing the edges of the trashcan and leaning over her.

“You ready?”

“No more small talk. I think my eyebrows are disintegrating.”

He snickered, placing one foot into her open palm and preparing to jump; and Katie delivered, propelling his jump with a very, very powerful boost.

So powerful that Lance lost his grip, and he crashed on the asphalt with a deeply pathetic groan.

It really was  _ not  _ his day.

“You okay?” Katie asked, and he could hear it, the slightest giggle in her voice, and Lance rolled onto his back to stare up at her, frowning. How dare, she, really, stare down at him with her eyes half-lidded, a shit eating grin on her face, the freckles on the bridge of her nose standing out much more to match the simmering joy she was radiating. She was giving him way too many reasons to dislike her, from her smug, almost-evil attitude, to the way she just… talked to him. So bluntly. So obviously interested in seeing him… defeated.

He really disliked Pidge--Katie.  _ Whatever. _

“I’m fine.” Lance spat. She outstretched her arms towards him.

“Then help a girl out?”

He sat up, rubbing out the ache in his shoulders from his unceremonious fall from garbage grace.

Then he had an idea.

“Actually, I don’t think I need to.”

Her own grin died. She quirked a brow.

“What does that mean?”

“I mean, I’m certainly not obligated to stick around. I got my stuff back, and I think I can get back to campus on my own.” He said, smile widening with every word. Katie glowered at him.

“If you leave me in this dumpster, Lance, I swear to any god listening that you will absolutely regret it.”

“Will I though?” Lance tested, and her eyes sparked with revenge.

“Yes.”

For a tense moment, Katie was terrified that Lance was really going to walk away. That he’d just get up, and any step forward they had in an amicable friendship would disintegrate, and worst of all, she’d have to find a way to get out of the dumpster on her own. She disliked Lance, definitely. The way he was looking up at her with a mischievous grin, clearly intent on pushing any and every button Katie had. She had way too many reasons to dislike him, at this point. And she did, gratefully. She disliked Lance. Strongly.

Then he laughed, and Katie’s grip on the edge of the dumpster tightened.

“You’re way too easy to mess with, Pidge.”

“I hate you.”

He stood up, slow, taking the time to brush off the sweatpants she loaned him and look up at her with a teasing smile. “You hate me, huh? Gee, maybe I  _ should  _ go.”

“Lance!”

“Chillax! I’m kidding. I swear.”

“And I’m  _ not  _ kidding! I think the bag I’m standing on is starting to sink.”

It sure felt like it. Lance snorted, and he outstretched his arms towards her. 

“Alright, alright! Give me your hands.”

He had a very, very strong grip. Which, for the second time today, was very reassuring. He pulled on her arms, slow, as Katie used her elbows and the grip of her shoes to squirm halfway out. She scrunched her nose up, Lance’s hands leaving hers to grab her upper arms.

“Hold on to me,” Lance directed. “You don’t wanna fall.”

“Why, did it hurt?” Katie asked, grinning, and Lance loosened his grip enough for her to squeak and grab his shoulders. He giggled.

“You’re fine, Pidge. I won’t drop you. Probably.”

“Oh, that ‘probably’ is  _ so  _ reassuring.”

“Help out, would you? Use your tiny legs.”

She did, shimmying over the lip of the bin, and then realized, with terror, that she probably wasn’t holding on to Lance tight enough, her stomach doing a pitfall. And quickly, she wrapped her arms in a gridlock around his neck at the exact moment Lance decided to pull her entirely free from their smelly prison. His grip left her arms, wrapping quickly around her back to cushion her fall, a second time, and there was a skid as her shoes smacked pavement.

They let out a breath they didn’t realize they were both holding. Katie took a step back, hands loosening from around his neck, staring up hard at his face.

She disliked his face, too.

“See, I didn’t drop you.” Lance said, a glint in his eyes as he smirked down at her.

“You didn’t.” Katie agreed. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. Also, you really smell like shit.”

That was enough for Katie to detangle herself from Lance, taking a hard step back, pressing herself back up against the dumpster. She folded her arms over her chest, acutely aware of her heartbeat going… much faster than she wanted it to.

_ It was just the awkwardness,  _ Katie thought, staring up at Lance.  _ It was just weird. _

“Well, I’ve done my fair share of favors for you, Lance.” Katie said. Lance looked at her incredulously. “I think we’ve come to the end of… whatever this was.”

Lance snorted. “Whatever this was?”

“We’re agreed not to talk about this again, right?”

“Oh, for sure.” Lance nodded, sagely, taking a step back and crouching to pick up the rest of his stuff. “We’re totally done, weird stranger.”

She waited, watching him, brows furrowing. How could he just… leave it like that? After all they’ve just been through in the last 24 hours?

“You need a ride back to campus?” Katie blurted. Lance looked up, lips pressed together.

“If you’re offering that as your last favor, then I’d love to.”

Katie nodded. “Yeah. Uh. If you’re hungry, too…”

What the hell was she doing?

“Oh, I have my wallet back, all money accounted for. If you drive to like, McDonalds, I’ll buy.”

“You don’t have to buy--”

“Pidge, Katie, whoever the hell you are,” Lance began, taking a step towards her, clapping his hands over her shoulders and giving her a slight throttle. “You’ve saved my ass about three times in one day. Let me pay for shitty burgers and milkshakes.”

Katie snorted, eyes rolling, hands rising to grab him by the shoulders and throttle him back.

“Fine. You can buy me food. It doesn’t pay for everything, but it’s a start.”

He looked down at her, acutely aware of the honey in her eyes, the freckles on her nose, and he wondered why he was so fixated on the way they smattered against her skin like stars. Her hair was a dishevelled mess, and instinctively he ran a hand through her bangs, fluffing them back up. Katie frowned.

“What are you doing?”

“You look like shit. We can’t go into McDonalds looking like shit.”

“I was going to drive through. I doubt the cashier’s going to care.”

“Well, I care.”

That was a strange thing for him to say, Pidge decided. Strange enough for her heart to skip a beat. There was an underlying tone there she didn’t expect.

Because despite the fact it was supposed to sound like a joke…

It sounded a lot deeper than that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i now know that writing songfics is so hard. i don't think this will just be an 11 chapter fic so time to like improvise probably........
> 
> thank you guys for reading!! sorry it took so long <3
> 
> catch me on [tumblr!](http://nadiarizavi.tumblr.com)


	4. i love you but i hate your friends

_If you knew what I know would you be ready to go?_   
_All this emptiness would end_   
_Stop pretending_   
_If you knew what I know would you be ready to go?_

 

* * *

 

 

“You know, it’s still super weird to see you here on a Saturday night.”

Lance looked up from his laptop at Hunk, standing in the doorway of their small dorm room wriggling out of his jacket. Lance shrugged.

“I’m a new man, Hunkothy. This is the new and improved Lancey-Lance.”

“Did you just call me--? You know what, nevermind. And I get that, and I  _ love  _ that, but man, I miss the peace and quiet around here.”

Lance snorted. “Don’t be rude! You should be more supportive of your best buddy’s initiative to walk the straight and narrow.”

“Ah yes, all because of a terrible one night stand incident a month and a half ago.”

Lance nodded, looking back to his laptop. “It’s really been that long, huh.”

Of course, Lance knew it’s been that long. After all, he was a changed man now. He assured that to Pidge-Katie Holt when she dropped him off at Blue Hall, after they had eaten their fill in a McDonald’s parking lot about thirty minutes before.

“If you have anymore nights like that, Lance, make sure to call the right person next time.” Pidge had said, poking her head out the window of her car once Lance had collected all of his things. Lance snorted at her, having leaned over the window and grinned at her.

“Maybe  _ you’re _ the right person to call. You kind of did save my life.”

“One time thing.” Pidge grinned. “But seriously, next time, don’t park your car in a tow-zone for a quick bone.”

“That rhymed.”

“Not the point.”

Lance laughed, and despite himself he leaned further into Pidge’s window, which forced her to lean back into her seat.

“I got it. Besides, I think I’m done with all that. For real this time. That was genuinely the worst night of my life.” He thought for a moment, then added quickly, “but simultaneously lead into probably the best day of my life. So thanks for that.”

Pidge nodded. “See? I know how to show guys like you a good time.”

“You’re kind of insufferable.”

“So are you.”

They shared a quick laugh, and Lance leaned back out, knocking on the roof of her car. “See you around, okay, Pidge-Katie? Don’t be afraid to start cashing in your million favors whenever you need them.”

She rolled her eyes, throwing her car into drive. “I’ll think about it.”

And she drove away. Just like that. And Lance has been awaiting for the last month and a half for Pidge-Katie to call in a favor.

But, lo and behold, she hasn’t.

“You’d think someone as short as her would need help reaching a jar on the top shelf, right?” Lance mumbled aloud, causing Hunk to raise a brow at him.

“You know, if you like her, you can just… call her? Not wait for her to call you?”

“I don’t  _ like  _ her, Hunk. I just hate feeling like I owe her something. She’s not cashing in  _ any  _ of her favors.”

“Then… call and ask if she needs help with anything?”

“That’s a terrible idea. Please apologize for suggesting something so terrible.”

“This is the weirdest relationship I’ve ever had to give you advice on.”

Lance groaned, flopping backwards into his pillow. “It’s--It’s not anything. And I don’t need advice.”

A low whistle. “Right. You just need to text her.”

Lance squinted at him. “Text her?”

“Oh my god, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Lance didn’t want to admit that Hunk kind of had a point there. He unlocked his phone, Hunk as his witness so he wouldn’t dare chicken out, and opened up a conversation with her, thumbs hovering over the keyboard.

“What do I even say?”

“You could start with  _ ‘hello.’” _

“You don’t need to be sassy about it.”

But before he could type in anything so very casual, a message popped up. From Pidge.

_ Pidge-Katie: Hate to do this, but I gotta cash in one of my favors. _

Lance blinked, unsure if he was dreaming. He looked up at Hunk.

“She texted me?”

Hunk’s eyes widened. “What are you doing? Text her back.”

Lance returned to his phone, another message coming in.

_ Pidge-Katie: Hey doofus, your read receipts are on. I’m gonna send you coordinates. _

That was enough to stun Lance back into replying.

_ Lance: Coordinates? You know you can be like, normal, and send an address, right? _

_ Pidge-Katie: Coordinates are more fun. But fine. Here’s the address. Arrive at 6 tonight. Also, dress formal. _

_ Lance: Formal? _

_ Pidge-Katie: Yes. _

_ Lance: Wanna tell me what’s going on? _

_ Pidge-Katie: Too much to explain over text. Please don’t be mad. I owe you. _

_ Lance: No, this is the part where I owe you. _

_ Pidge-Katie: lol.  _

_ Pidge-Katie: Thank you. _

Lance squirmed out of bed, handing his phone to Hunk as he got set to changing out of his pajamas into whatever clothes he could find that’d scream formal. He had a good suit, of course, but did he remember where his tie was?

Hunk let out a low whistle.

“I think you just got invited to an art gala.”

Lance froze, whipping his head around to stare at Hunk. “I did not.”

“Arusian Gardens? They’re hosting a charity gala tonight. Did you not know?”

Lance felt sweat in his palms, turning to Hunk slowly, skin turning pallid. “What the hell is Pidge doing inviting me to a gala?”

“Maybe she just needed a date.”

“She has friends! She could have asked Allura or something.”

“Realistically, you probably were not her  _ first  _ choice.”

Lance frowned. Now wasn’t the time to get into a conversation about Hunk over whether or not he’s Pidge’s first choice. Not that that mattered to him in the least bit.

But a charity gala? With Pidge? With absolutely zero warning or explanation and an expectation he’d show up?

Well, of course he was going to show up. He hasn’t been to a good party in weeks and he never needed a reason to crash a gathering of rich people.

Quickly, he plucked two shirts from his closet, spinning around to show Hunk, pushing what he said to the back of his mind.

“Whatever. White or pink?”

 

-

 

Katie was feeling sick to her stomach, pacing wildly at the entrance to Arusian Gardens, heels clacking tensely on concrete. There was a large crowd of people now, gathered, laughing, taking photos, carrying on small talk as more attendees spilled out of limousines. Soft music was playing from inside the palace-like greenhouse, lit up a warm yellow, drawing attention from passerby cars, enticing visitors like a moth to a flame.

Every now and then she’d imagine she recognized a laugh and dive right into the rose bushes. But every time she was wrong.

She checked her phone, anxious, angrily pulling off a white satin glove to shoot out a text to the not-punctual bane of her existence.

_ Katie: I said six o’clock, Lance! _

“I’m only ten minutes late.”

She jumped with a gasp, twirling on her heel to look up at Lance. He cleaned up well, judging by the floral pattern embossed into the fabric of his deep blue suit, the soft pink of his button-up was unwrinkled, and his tie was…

His tie was imperfect. She reached up on instinct, adjusting it for him. Lance rolled his eyes, hands shoving into his pockets.

“Ten minutes late is almost  _ too  _ late,” Katie muttered, poison in her tone.

“It’s almost fashionably late. Besides, people are still pulling up. The hell are you so worried about?”

She tensed, aware of her state of distress. A heavy sigh escaped her. “Everything.”

Katie certainly wasn’t planning on ever calling in her favor from Lance. She was assured in the idea that it’d never need to be addressed, that she’d move on with her life and career with a funny story under her belt to break the ice, and Lance would dissolve from her social sphere. And it was like that, for about a month.

And then her brother made her come to the Garrison Gala. And had the audacity to mention the presence of her classmates and competition. And that she had to bring a plus one, because  _ someone  _ was getting an honorable mention before the art auctioning started and it’d look very good for the photos.

And Katie was very scared to do all of that alone.

She shoved her phone into her velveteen clutch, then made a show of shoving her fist back into her glove, rolling it up to above her elbow with a growl. Lance took a step back.

“You… said you’d explain?”

“My stupid brother invited me to this stupid gala and now I have to stupid socialize.”

“That’s a lot of stupid.”

“I know. Make sure no one heard me say that.”

Lance snorted. “Okay. But you should know that when I found out this was a  _ gala?  _ I almost ghosted you.”

Katie gasped, pressing a hand to her chest in mockery. “Good heavens. You wouldn’t.”

“I was very afraid to find out about your fancy rich girl double life.”

“It’s not a rich girl double life, you know. These are just very unfortunate circumstances.”

“From where I’m standing,  _ nothing  _ about this is unfortunate.”

The jokes were enough to ease her anxiety, and she gestured towards the entrance. “We should go on in. Rules first. One, you and I are just friends to my family. But around certain people, I’m your girlfriend.”

Lance grinned. “Okay, so you’re either trying to impress someone or make them jealous.”

“I’m trying to stop people from asking invasive questions,” Katie dismissed him. “Two, don’t embarrass me. Three, we never talk about this again.”

“Oh, rule number three is something I’m very familiar with.”

Lance clasped her on the shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. “But don’t worry. I genuinely have no idea what’s happening, Pidge, but you look like you’re gonna throw up.”

“Rule four, my name’s Katie.”

“Noted, and I’ve elected to ignore that rule.”

She sighed, leading him inside, handing security her invitation while simultaneously trying to calm her nerves by chattering nonstop to Lance while the guard checked her bag.

“When you see my…  _ friends…  _ don’t tell them how we met.”

“Aw, I thought our meet-cute was rather romantic.”

“If we weren’t at a fancy party I’d kick your knees.”

He chuckled, and Katie tensed when she felt his hand touch the small of her back, leading her down the steps and into the gardens.

“It’ll be fine, Pidge. I know parties like the back of my hand.”

“Even these kinda parties?”

“Haha! God, no. I just thought I’d say something a little reassuring.”

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “If you’re uncomfortable, and I’m uncomfortable, then who the hell is driving the plane?”

That made Lance laugh, too. He released his hand from her back, shoving both fists deep into the pockets of his jacket. “Okay, so, got my mission. You just want me to follow you around and look pretty?”

“Sure. If people start talking science at you, just nod and say something like, uh, ‘right, and don’t get me started on nuclear fission.’ That’ll lead them right into a tangent and give you time to run.”

“Ugh, I’m so grateful I’m fake-dating you tonight. You’re the wind beneath my wings.”

Katie snorted, and she did her best to conceal a smile.

If she wasn’t so stressed right now, she’d probably let him know she was glad to have him back. In some way, she missed him, even a little bit. Lance was funny and took things in stride, something she was never capable of. And if she was honest, she had been wondering how he’d been doing the last almost-two months. She barely knew him, but, well…

She liked Lance. Just a smidge.

“Hey, look at you, Pidge!”

Katie froze, head twisting to see her older brother weaving his way through the crowd, a wide grin on his face, hair pulled back in a fancy half-bun. She gave a weak smile, raising a gloved hand in greeting.

“Hey, Matt.”

Matt’s eyes looked between her and Lance, his smile never leaving his face. “This your plus one? Not Allura?”

“Allura was busy tonight, but she lamented for about an hour about how she wished she was coming.” Katie joked. She gestured to Lance with her purse. “This is Lance.”

“You’ve never mentioned a Lance before.”

Lance looked at her, aghast, a hand covering his mouth in mock horror. “Katie-poo! You never mentioned me? After all the time we’ve shared?”

“This is exactly why I never mentioned you.”

Matt beamed. “You guys looked like you were having fun before I got here.”

Katie winced. Fun? Was that it? Was trying not to throw up out of nerves fun?

Lance nudged her with a grin. “I mean, I know I’m having fun.”

She threw him a glare that told him not to push it.

Lance gave her a look that said “make me.”

“Well, then I’ll leave you guys to having fun. I was just making rounds… oh! Pidge, James and Nadia were asking for you.” Matt gestured with his thumb in a direction, beaming.

Her stomach sank at the names, and she gave her brother a tight smile. “Great. I’ll--we’ll go say hi.”

Lance waited until Matt disappeared, taking Katie gently by the arm. “Who’s James and Nadia?”

“Some family friends. Went to space camp with them. It’s fine.”

“Dude, you clammed up like… like a  _ clam  _ as soon as your brother mentioned them.”

She threw him a grin. “Like a clam?”

“Oh, forget that part. Are they like, terrible people or something?”

Katie shook her head, tugging him along, weaving through the crowds of well-dressed donors and waiters distributing flutes of champagne. “No, they’re… they’re really cool. It’s honestly not a big deal. Let’s just get it over with, alright?”

Lance frowned at the back of her head, considering for a moment if it was worth mussing up her carefully styled loose curls to tease her. Instead his hand flicked down her back, heat rising to his cheeks. He didn’t think Katie-Pidge had it in her to wear an open-back dress, considering that the only outfits he’d ever seen her wear were basketball shorts and sweaters way too big for her frame.

“By the way,” Lance blurted, and Katie took the blurt to watch him carefully over her shoulder, a brow quirked. “You shouldn’t slouch. A girl as hot as you should like, strut it.”

That made her laugh.

“Strut it, huh?”

“Totally. It’s a waste to look like a catch and try to hide. You’re beautiful, Pidge.”

And it’s been a long time since Katie’s been caught off guard. Her brows furrowed, watching Lance’s face, waiting for the other shoe to drop, the wisecrack. But it never came. She stood up straighter, running her free hand through her curled hair, adjusting her gloves, averting her gaze. Lance was still looking at her.

“Thank you,” Katie said. “F-for the confidence boost.”

“Right, but I mean it. Let’s find your friends?”

She let out a sigh, and the beat of anxiety trapped in her throat left with it. It wasn’t hard to find Nadia and James; the pair stood out just from the sound of their voices, mingling with some CEOs of some fancy companies that were scouting them.

It sent a pang of envy through her chest. She ignored it and threw her hand up in a wave.

“Heard you guys were looking for me!” Katie said, tugging Lance along. Nadia beamed at the sight of her, outstretching her arms for a hug, James following close behind with a nod of acknowledgement to Lance. Lance fidgeted on the spot.

“Katie! Your dress! I’m so glad you came to this one!” Nadia said, giving her wrists a squeeze and a smile. “We were just talking about your dad’s latest paper.”

Katie forced a smile. “You were!”

“Yes! We were going to talk to him later about some of his main ideas, mostly because I want to use him as a reference for my soon-to-be-published article on the effects of aeronautic simulations on--”

“I think what Nadia means,” James interrupted, leaning close with a grin. “That we want to congratulate him.”

“Oh, shut up. Like you don’t want him to mentor you when you apply to NASA.”

“I’m trying to be a pilot, Rizavi, not an engineer.”

Nadia opened her mouth to retort, then stopped, gesturing to Lance with a grin. “And who’s this?”

Oh.

That part.

“Lance,” Lance answered quickly before Katie could, outstretching a hand. “I’m Kit-Kat’s boyfriend.”

Katie gave him a bewildered stare, mouthing “Kit-Kat?!” in anguish.

Lance returned her with a wink.

Nadia frowned, regarding Katie. “And you’re only now telling us about him?”

“We’ve only been together for like a month,” Katie said, matter-of-factly. “And you’ve been in Trinidad for the last four.”

“But you could’ve texted.”

Lance let out a hard laugh, grabbing Katie by the wrist. “Right! Well! It’s sure been great to meet you, Nadia, James. I think I see Matt waving at us, honey bunches of oats! We should go over there.”

“Oh!” Nadia blinked, giving a curt nod. “Never want to keep Dr. Matt Holt awaiting. Tell him we said hi and I’d love to talk solar with him later.”

James mirrors her nod, lifting his hand in a wave. “We’ll see you guys around. And yeah, tell your dad grats.”

Katie could barely answer him before Lance grabbed her hand and dragged her away, weaving through the crowds and gardens towards the back exit of the greenhouse. Her heels clacked and she wobbled keeping up to his pace, and Lance didn’t stop until he pushed through a door and they were meant with cold air and the sweet scent of rose bushes.

“Hey! Slow down.”

“Are they out of earshot?” Lance looked over his shoulder, taking a deep breath. _ “Man.  _ I figured your friends would be nerdy but that was unbearable.”

“They’re good people.” Katie said, breathless, looking around the gardens. “They’re just… humble braggers. I don’t think they’re aware of it.”

“Absolutely nothing about that sounded humble.”

She snorted, acutely aware of Lance’s hand around hers. She cleared her throat. “You didn’t have to run away from them. I mean, if I was as successful as they were, I wouldn’t shut up either.”

Lance snorted. “Yeah, you strike me as a bragger.”

“What happened to me needing a little more confidence?”

“Trying to make my compliments backfire will never work.”

They shared a laugh, and Katie scooted closer, ignoring the chill of night nipping at her skin. “... I don’t think I’ve properly said thank you.”

“You said thank you a lot,” Lance retorted.

“Not for everything,” Katie replied, and she gave his hand a squeeze. “You really came through, in more ways than one. Like, you didn’t have to do anything I asked, but you did. And this was worth exactly all one million favors you owed me.”

Lance stared down at her, his chest tightening at that. “So, now we’re even?”

Katie gave a slow nod. “Yeah. Yeah, guess we’re even.”

He thought about it for a moment, then nodded, resolute. “In that case, sorry to keep doing this to you, but I need a favor again.”

She let out a groan, letting go of his hand, taking a step back with a hearty laugh. “Jeez, I am  _ never  _ gonna get rid of you.”

“It’s small! I promise.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Fine, let’s hear it.”

Lance cleared his throat, splaying his hands. “Now, it’s a little crazy. And you can turn it down, if you want, but… but I think we should hang out. Like, as real friends. Because you’re crazy smart and cool and I’m irresistibly charming and we make a great team.”

“Part of your pitch was flattering yourself.”

“That’s a part of my charm.”

She beamed at him, shaking her head slow. “And you said this was a small favor.”

“You’re right. Being my friend is a very big favor. But there’s perks! Firstly, my car is no longer impounded, so I can drive you wherever you want. And my sister sells soap on Etsy, so I can get you discounts on soap and soap gifts.”

She let out a laugh, throwing her head back. “Those are excellent perks, absolutely.”

Lance grinned, outstretching a hand. “And it’d cost you nothing. No more needing to owe me favors. Just friendship.”

“Alright, so, why?”

“You’ve seen me naked, and I’ve seen your secret rich heiress secret life.”

“Those are fair points.”

“And also I wanna ditch this gala and go get pizza.”

“Oh, now there’s a bribe.”

“Not a bribe! I’m starving and I read the menu and I’m super confident I’m not going to feel full after eating ten plates of hors d'oeuvres.”

Katie grinned. “Then I’d like that. To get out of here and go eat a hot greasy slice of pepperoni pizza with a stuffed crust.”

“Stuffed crust, huh? It’s a good thing you’re rich.”

He moved to take her hand, then an idea came to him, and Lance found himself shimmying out of his suit jacket. “You know you’ve been shivering right?”

“Sorry my body is responding to the fact that it’s cold out tonight.”

“Oh my god, shut up.” He threw the jacket around her shoulders, tightening it against her chest, unaware for a moment that he had to pull Katie in close. He gave her upper arms a pat, a squeeze. “You look warmer already. Pizza quest?”

Katie blinked, looking between the floral pattern on the blazer and back up at Lance and his outstretched hand, taking it with the tips of her fingers, ignoring the stuttering her heart did the moment his jacket came off.

“Yeah! Pizza quest.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHHHHHHHHHH this took so long to write. i think i've had this chapter open for months and it kept trying to bite me back. but it's..................... done. am i satisfied? well no but HEY it's...... done  
> time skips are weird. i generally don't like to do them but i wanted to go somewhere a little funky with it. i think a pidge pov is in order to right the timeline. i'll figure it out, haha (i lost my fic notes!!! it's been a harrowing month)  
> anyways!! thank you for reading!! apologies for radio silence!!! i have 15 minutes to run to class now so i'm gonna go do that


	5. unavoidable

_My back's against the wall._

_Oh oh,_   
_And I feel it, the pressure._   
_I'm about to fall._   
_Oh oh,_   
_And I feel it, it's torture._

* * *

 

“Okay, how about… legs for fingers, or fingers for legs?”

Katie choked on her soda, putting the cup down to stare hard at Lance. He grinned at her. She contemplated leaving.

“Legs for fingers.” She finally decided, taking another slice of pizza off the tray, aware that it’s gotten cold in the last hour they’ve been sitting here. It was good pizza, when it first came. Now the crust just stuck gummy to the roof of her mouth, but Katie didn’t mind it as long as Lance kept talking.

“That’s  _ exactly  _ what Keith and Hunk said!”

“What? You’d rather have fingers for legs?”

“Well, yeah. I’d get to wear socks. All the time.”

She snorted around the pizza in her mouth, shaking her head. “But you wouldn’t get to wear shoes.”

“Why, you gonna buy ten pairs of itty bitty shoes for you feet fingers?”

“I’d start a business for feet finger shoes. Capitalize on it.”

“That’s evil. I like your style.”

A beat passed in silence, and Katie found herself watching Lance. He flicked through his phone, an absent minded expression on his face, sat with one arm thrown over his chair and one leg planted on the one next to him, a half-eaten slice of pepperoni left on his plate. His eyes flicked up to her suddenly, deep and blue and serene.

“What?” His mouth quirked up in a smile.

“Nothing. Just… weird being here,” Katie said. “I thought my dad was gonna kill me when I told him I ditched.”

Lance’s brows raised. “Oh right! You were supposed to be there for dinner. Yeesh, was this really okay?”

She nodded almost too quickly. “I told him I ate bad shrimp and had you take me home. We’re basically golden.”

“Oh, so we’re criminals on the run now.” He grinned, cheeky, eyes shining, and Katie choked on her pizza, hand moving too quick to reach for her drink.

And in slow motion, the cup toppled, spilling coke all over the table and on her dress. Katie jumped up with a yelp as the cold drink soaked through the fabric.

“Ah,  _ dicks!” _

Lance let out a giggle, small enough not to be heard everywhere, but loud enough for Katie to hear. She simmered at the sound, glaring daggers his way.

“Lance.”

“What? It’s a little funny.”

“I am never going to get this stain out.”

“Not if we go right now. Twenty-four-seven laundromats, baby.”

And twenty minutes later, they found one.

Katie gazed through the brightly lit windows, silver washing machines thrumming, two or three other patrons sitting around with baskets, folding, napping, reading. The walls were a canary yellow, paint peeling at the corners, and from where she sat, she could see a vending machine. She smacked her lips, the taste of pizza still a film on her tongue. Slowly, Katie turned to look at Lance, who was smiling right at her, hands tapping the wheel of his car.

“I don’t have a spare change of clothes.”

“Oh, Pidgey-Pidge Pidge. That’s so unfortunate.”

A blush crept up her cheeks, and she furrowed her brows at him. “You’re gross.”

“If only you had a knight in shining armor, who just so happened to have a spare set of clothes…” Lance trailed off, offering a dramatic shrug. “But who knows where he is.”

It made her heart skip, the realization that Katie just had.

“You still have my clothes!”

“I washed them for you. I think at this same laundromat, actually.”

“I am getting the absolute worst feeling of deja-vu.”

She leaned back hard in the passenger seat, feeling the coke drying into the velvet of her dress. Katie cringed. “Get out of the car.”

“This is my car, I feel like you should know.”

“I need to change out of this dress.”

Lance threw her a grin, opening his mouth, and Katie went quick to place a hand over his lips, shaking her head.

“Bad timing. Absolutely terrible timing.”

“Noted, but you gotta start letting me know when my timing is perfect.”

“Your timing is never, ever going to be perfect.”

He threw his hands up in surrender, popping the driver door open and, the moment he shut the door and the cold air dissipated, leaned hard against it. She let out a sigh of relief, heart threatening to leap out of her throat. Screw her life, right? Being forced to awkwardly change out of her expensive gala dress in Lance’s stupid car--

Her knee banged against the dash mid-shimmy. Katie hissed in pain, hoping Lance wouldn’t turn around and see her, half naked, boobs out, clutching her leg in distress. Carefully, she peaked his way.

He really was rather respectful, Katie noted. Quickly, she finally slipped the rest of the way out, goosebumps forming on her skin as she became more and more aware that she was stark naked in her fake-date’s car while he was sitting outside.

She cupped her chest, conscious, and then the thought occurred:

She never did ask him where he was keeping the clothes.

And then she wondered if he knew that, too.

And then she decided maybe Lance wasn’t as respectful as she had hoped.

Katie growled, picking back up the discarded dress, shaking it out despite knowing that wouldn’t do much for her. And like a heathen, she wrapped it around her body like a towel, and with shame, she knocked on the window of Lance’s door.

He turned and answered with a grin. “What’s up, you little sushi roll?”

“I swear on my ancestors, Lance, I will be hijacking your car if you call me that again.”

“I’m taking notes on all your threats. What’s wrong?”

“Where’s the clothes?”

“Oh.”

He climbed in, ignoring the tight space between them, and Katie leaned back into her seat with a startled yelp. He felt around the backseat, humming. A rustle of bags. A triumphant, “a-ha!” And he clambered back out, presenting a grocery store bag to her like a well earned trophy. Katie wondered if it’d be appropriate to pass out, out of relief.

“Will that be all, lettuce wrap?”

The glare was enough to drop his grin, and Lance shut the door again without another word.

It took her ten minutes to change, with relief, back into clothes she was familiar with. And despite herself, Katie brought the collar of the tee shirt to her nose, and took a whiff.

Detergent, certainly freshly washed. And a lingering scent of cheap cologne.

It made her blush, despite every brain cell telling her to cut that shit out.

She stepped out of the car, ears turning pink at the realization all she had in the shoe department were her heels, and she shot Lance a glare when he turned to look at her over the top of the car, a smug smile on his face.

“What?” Katie asked. Lance grinned wider.

“You look adorable. So much better than I did.”

“S-shut up. This sucks. This night sucks.”

“Oh, tell me about it. You were totally right about the deja-vu thing. How’s it feel being on the opposite end of the call? Gee, you got a place to stay?”

She jutted a finger at him. “I am  _ not  _ crashing in your dorm.”

He let out a laugh, stuttering and boisterous. “Fair enough. Let’s get that dress cleaned.”

 

\--

 

_ “Dammit. _ This is a nickel.”

Lance pressed his head against the glass window of their carefully selected washing machine. He gave Katie a weary look, who was frantically picking through the coins in her wallet in search of a final quarter.

“Is this dress even machine-wash?”

“Who cares? I’m not wearing it again.”

“That just broke my heart.”

She let out a frustrated groan, kicking her heel into the side of the machine, which reverberated with a clunk. “I’m going to go search the floor for loose change. Stay with the dress.”

“Pidge, I can assure you no one’s going to want your coke-soaked velvet dress that you’re about to run through a washing machine.”

She stormed off with a mocking grumble, and Lance couldn’t help but smile to himself. Pidge was different, that much he was certain of. She was weird and got mad over the small things, but she was determined, and… cute.

Well, she was beautiful in her gown (may it rest in peace), of course. A certain kind of elegance that he didn’t imagine she’d pull off. Maybe it was her constant air of confidence that made her pull it off with a fierceness he could only ever hope to emulate. But at the moment, Lance was enthralled with the girl crouched beside the dryers, wearing a VU t-shirt and track pants that he was wearing before, except somehow she made it look better in a pair of inch-high black heels.

A creeping thought in the back of his mind wanted him to share more clothes with her.

And then the heat rose to his cheeks, and Lance cleared his throat, crouching down in front of the wall of washing machines to find quarters directly below him.

“S’that your girl struttin’ around in heels and track pants?”

It was a throaty voice, and Lance whipped around quickly to the old man sitting in the chairs a few feet away from him, the novel in his hands dog-eared and half closed, space kept by a finger between the pages. The heat on his face never left him.

“She’s certainly a girl.”

“Did you two come from a fancy party or something? Nice pants.”

He almost forgot he was wearing his favorite floral suit. Half of it, at least. The jacket was… used as a guard between his car seats upholstery and Pidge’s coke dress.

Mentally, Lance made a note to take it to a proper dry cleaners. He respected it too much to throw it haphazardly with a velvet dress in a  _ washing machine. _

“Uh, thanks. And sort of? Technically we were getting pizza.”

The old man nodded appreciatively, the wrinkles around his eyes deepening in amusement.

“You’re cute together.”

“Oh,  _ god  _ no, we’re not together. I mean, we’re together, but not, like…” Lance trailed off as the old man let out a laugh.

“Boy, listen to yourself.”

Lance would rather not do that.

“Hey, you’re just looking for an extra quarter, right? Probably another four for the dryer.”

Oh, so he was an eavesdropping old man. Lance could respect that, if he wasn’t so embarrassed right now.

“You got spare change?”

“Only if you do me a favor.”

“You’re not like some fairy creature right? Like saying yeah won’t come back and bite me in the ass later?”

The old man giggled, and he held out his hand, coins tinkling together under his fist. Lance outstretched his, cupped beneath, and was surprised to find more than enough. Way more than enough.

“Just go to the vending machine and get that poor girl something to drink. And a water for me.”

Lance almost couldn’t contain his smile, getting up quick, tossing a look in Pidge’s direction to make sure she absolutely did not see the exchange. Two waters, check. One for the old man, who gave him a wink that was almost too suggestive, and one for his girl.

Well, not his girl-girl. Just his girl friend. With a space between girl and friend.

He pressed the cold water bottle to the back of her exposed neck, and Pidge let out a horrified gasp, whipping her head around to glare at him.

“What the hell?!”

“You look thirsty.”

Her surprise dissolved quickly into a frown. “Did you use our washing machine quarters to buy a water?”

“Nope. Found enough, and then some. And I thought I’d use the then-some to get you something to drink.”

That seemed to convince her, and Pidge took the bottle with relief, wobbling back up to a standing position. “Then I accept the water as a reward for this conquest. Shall we wash my poor dress?”

“I still hate that we’re just throwing it in a washing machine. Do you have to air dry or machine dry? Did you read that at least on the tag?”

“Bold of you to assume I read the washing instructions at all.”

He let out a sigh of defeat.

 

\--

 

“Better or worse than dumpster diving for my wallet?”

Katie frowned, leaning back against the dryer, the thrum and rumble of the machine almost relaxing against her spine. “Better. At least it smells better in here.”

Lance folded his arms over his chest. “This isn’t nearly as exciting.”

“You have a very weird idea of what exciting is.”

“Look, I haven’t been to a club in weeks. The most excitement I’ve had lately is pre-ordering the next Spider-Man issue.”

She criss-crossed her legs over his, smiling. “That actually does sound exciting.”

By this hour, every other laundromat patron had left, even the funny little old man who spent a lot of time smiling at Lance. Their water bottle was a quarter-filled, rationed between the two of them like shipwrecked sailors, except they were sitting on the cold tile floor of a discount laundromat with their legs hooked around each other, waiting for the spin cycle to end.

Somehow worse than being shipwrecked.

“So why haven’t you been to a club in weeks?”

Lance shrugged. “Does it matter?”

“Yeah, because when we met, you were like, stereotypical party-hard dudebro.”

“Was I really that bad?”

“Naked, remember?”

He groaned, leaning back into the dryer behind him. “Yeah, right. I guess I was serious about what I said, you know? About putting that shit behind me.”

She gave a nod of appreciation. “Didn’t think you’d stick to it.”

“Did you really have such little faith in me?”

“My faith was questionable,” Katie teased. “But I’m glad to hear it’s worked out.”

He held the water bottle out to her, and she took it with quiet acknowledgement, limiting her sip to just barely keep her mouth wet.  It made her a little proud to know that Lance was different. He certainly acted different. The same in a lot of ways, but…

Different enough that she no longer found him insufferable. But endearing.

“So, what have you been up to?” Lance blurted, and Katie shrugged.

“Still studying hard. Allura’s been crashing more at her sorority, so I’ve had the place to myself a lot lately.”

He gave a slow nod. “Must be lonely.”

“Not really. I get to walk around the place in my undies more. Freedom.”

He laughed, averting his gaze, and she wondered if she was imagining his ears turning pink at the tips. “Man, I’d love to do that.”

A pause, and he turned quickly back to her with an arm raised in defense. “Walk around in my undies! In  _ my  _ own room! Not yours.”

Oh, the opening was too easy. She dug her heel into his calf, grinning. “I didn’t think you meant  _ my  _ place.”

“You know what, Pidge? Shoot me right now. It’d be less embarrassing than this conversation.”

“I told you, it’s  _ Katie.” _

“Yeah, that doesn’t matter. How come I can’t call you Pidge but your brother can?”

“He gave me the nickname,” she shrugged. “It just stuck. It’s normal when he does it.”

Lance gestured at himself. “But not when I do it?”

“You’re the least normal thing in this room right now. And yeah, it’s weird.”

“I feel like it’d be weirder if I called you… not-Pidge.”

“It’d be weirder if you tried to put the moves on me.”

For a moment, Lance said nothing, just practiced a sober expression towards her, and Katie wondered if he’d concede.

“Well, Pidge, if that’s the game you want to play, fine.”

And then Lance detangled his limbs from hers, a dark look of determination crossing his visage so quickly that it made Katie’s heart race in a combined feeling of terror and curiosity.

He  _ wouldn’t. _

He sat up, scooting closer, and closer, and Katie’s mouth fell open despite herself. Then with a solid  _ smack!, _ his hands were planted on either side of her head, boxing her in against the rumbling dryer. Katie’s eyes widened at the gesture. She wasn’t a stranger to being in close proximity with Lance anymore, no, but this was different. This time, Lance had her boxed in.

“Uhm,” was the only thing that managed to squeak past her lips.

He grinned, and pressed himself closer, close enough that she could smell, with certainty, his cologne, and she brought her knees closer to her chest, not daring to look anywhere except up at his stupid, idiot, handsome face. He said something, mumbled between his lips, and Katie was grateful, certainly, that at the moment all she could hear was the pounding of her heart and the thump-thump-thump of the dryer. Or that was just all the same sound.

But she was sure she heard him say “Katie.”

Then he giggled, and the moment bursted.

“Yeah, absolutely fucking weird, Pidge.”

Katie let out a breath, unaware she was holding it. And then her senses came back, reflexes kicked in, and she jabbed her knuckles into Lance’s side, who let out a peal of laughter, doubling over on top of her, his head absently pressing into her shoulder with a bounce.

“You’re such a  _ dick.” _

“You should’ve seen your face!”

“I’m going to…” And despite herself, she laughed too, hard and loud, steadying Lance’s shoulders over her. “Lance! That wasn’t cool!”

She shivered, then, aware for the first time of Lance’s cheek pressed to hers, the coarse stubble of his jaw scratching against her cheek as he moved to whisper in her ear, an almost tease in his tone, but sincere all the same between giggles.

“Right. You’re right. I’m sorry. Really.”

She inched away, shaking her head, pushing him back by the shoulders with the gentlest of squeezes to remind Lance that he was, absolutely, in her personal space.

The cologne was starting to make Katie dizzy.

Katie remembered to clear her throat, nodding, a hand rising subconsciously to touch her cheek. “Thank you for the apology.”

Lance opened his mouth the same time the dryer buzzed, and Katie felt the buzz continue in her chest once the words came out.

“Sure thing, Katie.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> did i just update back-to-back? yes? yeah? i did?  
> i felt bad taking forever w the last chapter ;_;!!!!! so i wanted to..... speed through...... hang on tight to the writing bug while she's got me in her grip............ and give a little more uvu;  
> IN ANY CASE, if you're gonna listen to any song from this album, let it be unavoidable. it's honestly my go-to plance song. here i'll make it easy here you go [please do me a solid and listen 2 unavoidable](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVMQOtL8_Uo)  
> i feel like i should mention i do a webcomic now, huh? that's what i've been up to in my fic writing absence. i don't self promo enough LOL but if u like fantasy adventures ;) well u can [read mine](https://tapas.io/series/tinder-comic)  
> as always u can reach out on [tumblr!!](http://nadiarizavi.tumblr.com) it's been weird getting into the swing of things again! but i am. i'm trying really hard to. and thank you as always for reading!


	6. teenager in love

_ There was a point of no return, and I never looked back, til I was holding your hand  
I was socially absurd, but who cares? _

* * *

 

“Is your girlfriend coming with us or what?”

Lance stuttered to a stop at the accusation, whipping his head around to glare accusingly at Keith. “Katie’s not my girlfriend.”

“I thought her name was Pidge?” Hunk asked, looking up from absentmindedly scrolling through his instagram feed.

“Nah, it’s Katie.”

Hunk didn’t press for information, which Lance was grateful for. The last thing he needed was more questions, or in Keith’s case, accusations about Katie.

This was a weirdly huge milestone for him. 

His best friends meeting his other, newer best friend, who seemed really happy to get an invitation to Lance’s first swim meet of the season. And he was excited, too. He figured he and Katie needed a dose of normalcy, considering that every time they hung out it was like a witch was there prepped and ready to curse them. Not that they hung out regularly, no. The gala was another few weeks in the past, and Lance found himself…  _ busy,  _ after securing a part-time job, clubs and late parties now a distant memory of the past. And Katie only got more and more swamped with studying for all those math classes she was taking. And Lance missed her, a lot. Sure, she texted him every night when she wasn’t busy, but being in the same room as her, absorbing her crooked smile and biting sarcasm was a feeling he didn’t think he’d ever want to lose. And he was walking on air, when she revealed she could make it to the swim meet.

Normalcy was going to be good, he thought, walking away back towards the locker room from the main pool, a slight skip in his step.

His phone bleeped with a text. Speak of the devil.

_ Katie: Hey is it okay if Allura comes? She’s bummed about sorority drama and I wanna cheer her up. _

Allura. Mysterious, super pretty roommate. It’s been a while, hadn’t it? He hadn’t heard of her since he and Katie went dumpster diving, only knowing that, somewhere down the line, Katie had to have told her the truth.

_ Lance: Yeah, for sure. Hot shirtless guys swimming is gonna cheer her up, huh? _

_ Katie: Despicable. I just mean she likes sports. Also self-incriminating evidence that you think your teammates are hot _

_ Lance: Yeah they fucking are I’m not blind _

_ Katie: Hahahaha _

_ Lance: Sidebar, how did she take the whole Truth? _

_ Katie: She thought it was funny. _

_ Lance: That’s IT? _

_ Katie: What, did you want a medal or something? _

_ Lance: Obviously?? Keith & Hunk just called me a dumbass. :/ _

_ Katie: You deserve it lol _

_ Katie: Anyway, we’ll be there soon. Thanks for letting her come, see you :) _

_ Lance: love u _

And then his stomach dropped like a ton of bricks.

He stared at his own text for a minute, mortification settling in. He didn’t just do that. He didn’t just hit Katie with the L word over text. He brought his phone closer to his face, gulping around the lump in his throat. No. God, no. This wasn’t happening. Not when he was about thirty minutes away from getting back into the pool.

Lance ignored the signs around the pool area begging people not to run in bright red letters, already breaking into a full sprint for the stands, taking them two at a time before his crocs betrayed him and he crashed right into Keith, who, graciously, smacked him upside the head on reflex, and probably just by principle.

“Ow, oh god. Oh god, let me die,” Lance managed to choke out, clutching his disastrously long limbs as the pain settled in--physically, and emotionally.

“Weren’t you just getting back to the lockers?” Keith said, brows furrowed, and Hunk could only do what he did best, which was pick up Lance by the underarms and help him into a sitting position.

“I was. Then Katie texted, and I was gonna let you guys know her roommate was coming too. But, like.”

The two boys leaned in, expectant. Lance let out a ragged sigh, sticking out his phone, but not before double checking that Katie hadn’t replied.

She hadn’t. She didn’t even read it yet.

He couldn’t tell if he was relieved or extremely disappointed.

Then again, he didn’t have a right to be disappointed. He and Katie, they weren’t… anything. They were friends, friends who met under bizarre circumstances and continued to only delight in bizarre circumstances.

But he liked her. And friends say they love each other all the time, but somehow saying that to Katie felt… too wrong. Like it was in poor context, and he couldn’t help but agonize over the fact that he has landed himself directly in unknown territory. Katie wasn’t the affectionate type. She was the kickass, sarcastic type, and Lance could only pray that maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe, she had a sense of humor right now.

“That’s it?” Keith finally said, and Lance wanted to throttle him. He wasn’t sure when he and Keith started to hang out outside of the nightclubs and bars, when they went from barely-friends with benefits to just… friends. The transition was fumbly, awkward, and probably around the same time Lance found himself thinking more about Katie and not wasting away at clubs every weekend. It felt weird to not have Keith still in his life, Lance figured, and the first time they got lunch together without any more expectation out of each other was… the best lunch he’s ever had with a guy. With Keith, specifically. And he liked having Keith as his friend.

_ Except  _ right now. He could do without the sass right now.

Lance took his phone back, eyes wide. “I changed the game.”

“Explain.” Keith said, leaning forward without much interest.

“She’s gonna read too much into it, and then I’ll have to let her down gently--”

“I think you’re the one reading too much into it, dipshit.”

That struck him, and Lance realized, in horror, that Keith was kind of right. He hated that. He looked to Hunk for guidance, hands forming a small steeple of prayer, and Hunk only smiled.

“I mean, you were gonna tell her eventually, right?”

“Well,  _ yeah _ \--wait. Fuck you. That was a trap.”

Hunk’s smile only widened. “What does ‘yeah’ mean?”

“It means I hate you. So much.”

His phone bleeped again in his hand, and Lance’s blood run cold. There was only one person that could be texting him right now, and he held the rectangle in his hand like it was a bomb about to go off.

Hunk rolled his eyes. “Dude, just read the text already.”

“I can’t. My muscles have gone stiff. I think I’m going into anaphylactic shock.”

Keith leaned over and pressed the home button, steading Lance’s face with his other hand, forcing him to look.

_ Katie: I’m not saying it back until you win. _

The relief he felt was almost earth shattering. Lance let out the air he didn’t know he was holding. Still, with the relief, came a wave of disappointment. But then again, he wasn’t asking her to say it back. He couldn’t. God, no.

He had to quip back.

_ Lance: Guess I’ll have to do just that for you. _

Worse. Somehow he was making it worse, and this time his friends watched him type it out and press send without even warning him that he was in complete control of his present dumbassery. His lizard brain was trying to compute too much right now, and it short-circuited. He glanced up at Keith and Hunk, who watched him with mirrored, stupid, smug little grins.

“I have to go drench myself in cold water now.” Lance said, standing up quickly, hoping to all gods that Katie wouldn’t walk into the pool area right now.

“Aim for gold, okay?” Hunk called after him. “This girl’s not gonna say she loves you unless you do!”

His heart just about exploded from his chest, and Lance was dizzy. So fucking dizzy.

 

\--

 

“He did  _ not.” _

Allura snatched the phone out of Katie’s hand, a squeal leaving her lips, so loud that Katie had half a mind to smack her roommate.

“He’s so stupid,” Katie said, walking a beat faster than Allura, brushing off the comment without a second thought.

“Stupid in love, apparently.”

She snorted, turning back to her roommate, who was watching her with a giddy smile.

“Stop looking at me like that. Friends say they love each other all the time.”

“But they don’t flirt! He’s flirting. You’re so blind.”

“That’s not flirting. He’s being…  _ Lance.” _

Allura rolled her eyes. “Come on, Katie. It’s like you’re completely unaware of how he looks at you.”

Katie grimaced, pushing into Allura with her hip, which sent the taller girl into a flight of giggles. “Allura! He doesn’t… there’s nothing there.”

“Right,” Allura said, an arm looping through hers. “Nothing there. As if there weren’t sparks flying when he dropped you off after the Gala at two in the morning.”

Katie ignored the heat on her cheeks. Frankly, she had no idea what Allura was talking about. Lance drove her home, and walked her back inside, and before Allura walked into the room, he was giving her a noogie with a bold claim that he was waiting for hours to do that.

She called him a dick. He laughed.

“Just wanted to wait until we were like, in private.”

“You just wanted to fuck up my hair.”

“Well, duh. I’ve genuinely been wanting to do that all night.”

Another noogie, and she rolled out of his grip with a peal of laughter. “Stop! Allura’s gonna wake up.”

“I don’t care,” he said it coolly, calmly, hands tugging her face back to him with a squish of her cheeks. “Katie.”

There was a pause, and Katie felt the same buzz she did back at the laundromat, her flesh hot where Lance was touching her; a sensation that wasn’t unwelcomed, but strange and exciting all the same. It was different when it was him. It was so, so different.

And then he ruined the moment by snaking his hands down to tickle her ribs, which sent them both right back into hysterics. Loud enough hysterics to wake up Allura, who only smiled pleasantly when Lance said goodbye for real, and leaving Katie wishing that she would’ve asked, even as a joke, if he was planning on crashing on her couch again.

“Told you,” Katie said finally, pulling Allura along, faster now to the campus pool used for the swim team. “That’s just Lance.”

It was just Lance. She repeated it in her head, even when she and Allura found the bleachers and sat them both down in the back, tugging her hoodie a little tighter around herself. It was just Lance. That was it. Just Lance.

She realized she had a hard time focusing on anything else when the VU team strode out for the first race.

It was a different kind of naked. The first time, Katie thought she had control of the situation. It was her car, her set of spare clothes, and she wasn’t the one who was recoiling in drunken, naked shame in the passenger seat of her car in the middle of a cold night. That, that was different. That, she could look back on and laugh about, because knowing Lance the way she does now, the entire situation was comforting. Their first real night together, a shared secret that her closest friend and his closest friends only knew the bare bones about and never really got to experience. It was  _ their  _ thing.

But a swim meet was different, because Katie realized far too quickly that she had no power here. It was a sports meet. He was in his element here, and he knew it. And when he looked back at the stands and caught her eye, she wasn’t sure if he was going to give her a crowd-pleasing smirk and wink that he did others in the crowd or something else.

But then those deep blue eyes locked onto her, and his face softened. He cracked a genuine grin that Katie couldn’t help but mirror, a warmth in her chest she didn’t know she needed to feel. And then she remembered the text messages, sent only forty, fifty minutes ago, innocuous at first glance, but now she wondered, in fascinated terror, if Allura was right.

Stupid in love, or something.

Emphasis on stupid.

And god, she was going to root for him, really, but part of her was hoping suddenly that he’d lose every race.

 

\--

 

He won gold in three of his races. Naturally, of course; Lance was born and bred for the water, he sometimes felt like, and the wins became almost routine every season since high school.

Except there was a different weight, now, when the announcer called his name up for the 500 meter freestyle for gold, and Lance realized, in slow motion, that he did it. He got gold. And at least three people up there knew exactly what that meant.

He found Katie’s eyes again in the crowd, and there was a smile on her face as she and Allura whooped and cheered for him, and he wondered exactly what was going through her mind when the medal was slipped over his head. And then he didn’t push himself as hard as he usually did when he hit the water for the two other freestyle relays he was signed up for, because one win was enough to secure what he was really hoping for.

God, what was he really hoping for, and why the hell did he think of it like some kind of prize for just being a lizard-brained individual?

The meet couldn’t have dredged on any longer, and there was relief when the team was finally dismissed, awards handed out, and his teammate Ryan clapped him on the shoulder as they stumbled back towards the locker rooms, the scent of chlorine heavy in the air.

He almost instinctively checked his phone.

_ Katie: Hmmm. Looks like you did it. _

_ Katie: Three times is a bit overkill, though. _

_ Katie: Love you love you love you _

It made his heart skip a beat. Three, in fact. She was being ridiculous. God, she was just so  _ ridiculous, _ and the entire situation was ridiculous, and yet Lance couldn’t help but think that if this was what it was like dating Katie, then he was the luckiest lizard on the planet.

And then he stopped himself. They weren’t dating.

Right, right, right. One milestone at a time, although he figured saying he loved her tangled and confused every step in between.

Not important. It was celebration time. Drinks with his best friends.

 

\--

 

Well, Katie certainly didn’t expect Allura to hit it off so easily with Lance’s boys.

But somehow being friendly and off the beat seemed right on par with her usual self, and it was nice to hear Allura laughing and enjoying herself with new friends rather than the latter state she found herself in at home; stressed, sad, sprawling across her bed and not moving a muscle because she was spreading herself too damn thin. Katie smiled to herself, watching Allura try to teach Keith a card game, relieved that her roommate still remembered how to use her smile.

Katie took a tentative sip of the mixed drink she was cradling, aware of how much of a stranger alcohol was to her. It wasn’t that she couldn’t drink, no, but more so that she rarely found herself in a social situation that required her to.

“I know it’s not two hundred dollar champagne,” Lance said, seated next to her on the leather couch they occupied in the club, swirling a dark liquid in his glass with a whistle. “But is it good?”

She snorted. “Being more expensive doesn’t make the alcohol taste better.”

“God that’s such a relief to hear from an heiress.”

“I’m not an heiress.” She took another careful sip. Whatever booze she was drinking, she couldn’t taste it under layers of pineapple and ice. “Also I think your friend and my friend are flirting.”

“Ew,” Lance said, and he downed the rest of his glass, setting it down on the table in front of them with a clack. “That’s the worst idea you’ve ever suggested.”

She gave him a lazy smile, kicking his shoe with her own. “I think it’s sweet.”

“Katie. Gross.”

She still wasn’t used to him calling her Katie. He rarely used her name over text, and they generally weren’t hanging out enough in public for him to say it. It was still strange, to hear her real name come out of his mouth, something there was strangely intimate about it, because she didn’t mind, really, when he called her Pidge; it was a nickname, not one she used, but one that put a safe distance between herself and Lance.

But then he said her real name, and she liked it. As if it tore down another barrier.

Not that that mattered right now, because since the swim meet ended, Katie was acutely aware that there was a new wall between them.

She wondered if her texts freaked him out. She thought she was being funny at the time, but when Lance didn’t ruffle her hair or invade her personal space the second he bounded up to her and Allura, doubt leaked into her mind. In fact, since introducing them to his friends, Lance had done nothing but keep a safe distance, his moves calculated, deliberate, as if he was warning her. He was a touchy feely guy, with Keith and Hunk, and even with Allura, when she exclaimed her favorite song was on and he lifted her arm and spun her with a boisterous laugh. And the way he talked, too, it wasn’t natural, like his heart wasn’t all the way into their usual back-and-forth jabs and banter.

Lance was sitting right there next to her and all she could think was that she missed him.

She took another gulp of her drink, watching the crowd in the club. He chose a more mellow one, according to Keith, a club that wasn’t packed full of people and more casual in the groups of friends that stood or sat around, giggling under neon lights and playing board games, splitting shots of tequila when Jenga towers toppled and battleships sunk. Hunk, Keith, and Allura were absorbed now in their card game, erupting into laughter and accusations when hands slapped down on the table, and Katie reminded herself, that despite Lance’s weirdness, she was really, really happy to see Allura having a good time.

“Hey, I think I need fresh air,” Katie said, after a moment, placing her glass down carefully on the table and shrugging back on her jacket. Clubs weren’t her thing, not really. And even if this place was mellow by the standards of two seasoned clubgoers, she still felt it suffocating her, and she really didn’t like how hot and sweaty booze made her feel.

The night air was cool on her skin when she walked outside, and Katie wiggled out her fingers before turning the corner into the alleyway between buildings, inhaling the city air before doubling over in a coughing fit. She wasn’t surprised, when Lance came bumbling out after her. She was hoping he would, because the second he caught sight of her and bounded to her side, she could tell already the wall that he placed between them had dissolved.

She didn’t quite know how she felt about that.

“Next time we’ll just grab a six-pack and go raze a playground,” Lance said, breathless, his hands stretching above his head with a growing smile. She returned it half-heartedly, and she hated how quickly he caught onto her mood. “You okay?”

“Yeah, fine.” Katie gave her best fake smile, and Lance frowned.

“Yeah, but I have a PhD in reading the room,” He leaned in close, placing a hand on her head and despite himself, he fussed with her bangs. “Sorry, force of habit. Anyways, I’m diagnosing you with a heavy dose of bullshit.”

She swatted his hand away with a laugh. “Fine, jeez. I just thought we were acting weird in there, so I just… wanted to clear my head.”

“Huh. So bullshit’s contagious. Whodathunk.” Lance shoved his hands in the pockets of his jacket, exhaling. “I’m sorry. I’ve been on edge all day, so I think I was just… shutting down.”

Katie nodded, a hum leaving her. “Is this about you texting that you love me?”

She was met with silence for a long time, and that was enough to confirm it. “If it helps you get more sleep tonight, dumbass, I didn’t read too much into it. It’s okay to tell your friends you love them.”

Lance continued his silence, staring off at the brick wall ahead of them, and Katie did the same. She liked when they didn’t talk, but just stood in close proximity. It made her feel safe, even just a little bit.

“But what if…” He trailed off, just as quickly as he started talking, and Katie blinked in surprise.

“What if what?”

“What if…” He turned towards her, warm hands grasping at hers, and his brows raised in surprise. “Jesus Christ. Your fingers are fucking cold, Katie.”

He seemed to forget himself, holding his hands in hers for a long moment, eyes unwavering from her smaller fists clasped between his large ones. Cars rolled by, slow as the turning of the earth, and Katie could hear sirens in the distance; the distance varied, because all she could really hear was her own heartbeat in her ears. Lance held up her hands, clasped between his, and blue eyes found hers again.

She liked these moments, moments stolen just for the two of them. She let out the breath she didn’t know she was holding.

“You were saying something, Lance?”

He didn’t let go of her hands, squeezing her fingers tighter again, letting silence fill the space between them, his eyes leaving hers to stare at their fingers, intertwined. Then he shrugged.

“I was just thinking we should do this again sometime.”

“What, stare at our hands? Cause we can do that all the time.”

This time he met her eyes, snorting at her. “You’re terrible. No, I meant… go out. Again. Not with everyone else, but like, together.”

“You know we’re friends right? We can hang out together any time?”

“Ugh. I can’t tell if you’re teasing me or not.”

“I’m teasing. Although, I’d appreciate if you just said what you meant.”

His hands only tightened, and he cocked his head, breathing in deep, as if he had been preparing what he was going to say all day, and the courage had finally built up to a crescendo.

“Katie, can we go out? On a date?”

And maybe she wasn’t thinking when she answered as quick as he did, barely letting the question simmer for even a second.

“Yeah. We can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u for reading <3

**Author's Note:**

> SUWPWISE i've actually been working on this for months and i'm very excited to bring you it. pop psychology is the best neon trees album and i stand by this. i've never written a songfic ever in my life and here we are....... i hope i do you proud.........? lemme know what you think, perhaps? <3
> 
> catch me on [tumblr!](http://ghostvinyls.tumblr.com)


End file.
